Title: I'll Give You the Sun
Author: Jandy Nelson
Pages: 371 pages
Published: September 16, 2014
Genre: YA contemporary
A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell.
Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways... until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else- an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they'd have a chance to remake their world.This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and tear and laughing- often all at once!
Order Now!
**SPOILER FREE**
I know this is like only the 3rd book I've read in the New Year, but I already feel like it has made one of my tops books for this year! A heartbreaking yet beautiful book painted from the perspective of two artistic teenagers seeking love, but at the same time, trying to fix their broken family. I really don't know what I loved more about this book- the story line or the characters.
The story starts off with Noah's perspective at the age of 13. He describes himself as a struggling artist, very sheepish and not very enthusiastic about making friends with the riff-raff of surfboarders. And at his age, he and his twin sister are unmistakably close. His twin sister, on the other hand, narrates the book in her later years at the age of 16 where the two ultimately drift away from each other. At this time in age, she has been accepted to a scholarly art school and is on a journey to find herself and reconnect with her brother. The pair are set on this long journey to find their ways back to each other and figure out what the hell happened in their past life to make them so miserable.
I had two really distinct opinions about this book: 1) Holy crap this book was magnificent touching upon real and troubling aspects in life, but yet talking about finding first love. 2) I hated the book almost to the extent of madness because things hadn't turned out the way I wanted it to! Let me just say that Jandy Nelson provides her readers with an intriguing story, but stories can only go so far in reality. I'm not satisfied with what's left, and I need more!!!
This book is so well thought out that soon as new events are revealed and the time passes, shit really does go down and the book becomes so much more than a petty contemporary novel. The characters were so compelling.. so soo soo attention-grabbing and pleasing. As a twin myself, I related to both Jude and Noah. I felt that Jude was a lot like me, a weird, quirky teenager who likes dudes on surfboards and has a passion for art, well in my case writing. Noah, on the other hand, was timid and depended on his hobby of art mostly to take him out of that quiet zone. Art, to him, was a way out of the real world and his passageway into a new world, kind of like what reading is to me.
Without the characters, the story itself was intriguing. We have these two twins searching for their true selves and finding their way back to each other when they've been separated for so long. It's kind of like saying a message, "Twins will always be there for each other. Always find each other in the end." The ending was satisfying! I extremely loved the ending and the way the other cleared everything up.
I know this is a pretty long review, but I had just generated so many thoughts and opinions about the book! Thanks for reading and I hope I've encouraged you to read this amazing novel. Go Jandy Nelson, I'm like a huge fan now!
This book is so well thought out that soon as new events are revealed and the time passes, shit really does go down and the book becomes so much more than a petty contemporary novel. The characters were so compelling.. so soo soo attention-grabbing and pleasing. As a twin myself, I related to both Jude and Noah. I felt that Jude was a lot like me, a weird, quirky teenager who likes dudes on surfboards and has a passion for art, well in my case writing. Noah, on the other hand, was timid and depended on his hobby of art mostly to take him out of that quiet zone. Art, to him, was a way out of the real world and his passageway into a new world, kind of like what reading is to me.
Without the characters, the story itself was intriguing. We have these two twins searching for their true selves and finding their way back to each other when they've been separated for so long. It's kind of like saying a message, "Twins will always be there for each other. Always find each other in the end." The ending was satisfying! I extremely loved the ending and the way the other cleared everything up.
I know this is a pretty long review, but I had just generated so many thoughts and opinions about the book! Thanks for reading and I hope I've encouraged you to read this amazing novel. Go Jandy Nelson, I'm like a huge fan now!
I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I've seen such amazing things so I'm definitely going to have to check it out soon, it sounds like the type of book that I'd love :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. And to consider the fact that this book was so different than what I normally read, and I still loved it to the some extent.
DeleteGreat review, Alex! I'll have to check this one out! (:
ReplyDeleteHehe thanks :D
DeleteWow this book must be really good I've only read good reviews about it..:)
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I still need to pick up The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson :p
DeleteI've heard so many good things about this book, that I'm tempted to pick it up even though contemporaries aren't completely my thing still. I'm glad you loved it all the same! And great review :)
ReplyDeleteMost recent post on Enchanted by YA: http://enchantedbyya.blogspot.com/2015/01/review-fire-in-woods-fire-in-woods-1-by.html
It's great that you want to start this book!
DeleteI've not read YA contemporary in a very long while but this seems like something that could get me back into the sub-genre. Love the way you presented the polarising views you had and this review's overall awesomeness.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thanks for swimmin' by my blog and for your kind words! You have a pretty neat design yourself (:
Sherlyn @ Mermaid With A Book
No problem, it was a pleasure to visit your blog. I also felt that this book was the perfect thing to get me back into the genre!
DeleteAwww I'm so glad you liked this! It's not really my style, but I'm glad it touches upon the harder parts of life and that the characters are so compelling. Lovely review!
ReplyDeleteRachel @ A Perfection Called Books
Ohh sorry it's not much of your style :P
DeleteThanks for reading!
I'm glad you enjoyed this! I've heard about this one, but I wasn't really sure if I should check it out or not. But now that I've read your review, I'm convinced that I should read this really soon! Amazing review!
ReplyDeleteThanks and, of course, welcome back!
DeleteGreat review! I've been wanting to read this book ever since I first heard about it. I'm glad you liked it so much. I'll have to movie it up in my reading to do list now =)
ReplyDelete- Jazzie @ The Book Dancer
yaya can't wait to hear your thoughts :D
DeleteThis book was definitely one of the best I read last year. SO amazing - I could fangirl over it and I would love to force it on EVERYONE to read!
ReplyDeleteMissie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Yes we must fangirl. And have u read The Sky is Everywhere? Currently I"m trying to order it from Amazon so I could hurry and read it before the end of January.
DeleteI checked this book out from the library, read like two pages and put it down. I heard great things about it but I felt skeptical even though I've read Jandy Nelson's other book and it was fantastic! Maybe one day. Great review, Alex! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks :D Ohh you read The Sky is Everywhere. I really want to read that one so badly
DeleteYes, I loved it!
DeleteI haven't heard of this book but holy shizzles it looks good! I have seen this book around but really wasn't sure but after reading this review is makes me want to go to Waterstones and grab it evn though it is the middle of the night!! Great review :)
ReplyDeleteNaomi @The Perks Of Being A Bookworm
IT IS SOOO GOOD.. SOO SOO GOOD. Have a good night then and wow you're very dedicated then. Thanks for visiting and reading my review :D
DeleteWow! I didn't know that you had a twin! That's so cool :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard so many good things about this book and I'm so excited to read it :D I'm definitely going to have to read this book soon now. Awesome review, Alex!
Thanks for visiting my blog, and I can't wait to see your thoughts. It always gets me excited when I get someone to read a book I really enjoyed.
Deletechaussure timberland pas cher timberland femme pas cher Longti moi, me ont menacé, dit être fracassé signes. Le vieil homme se serrant la main avec une canne piquez impitoyablement quelques-uns sol. Cheap timberland homme pas cher rit, et chaussure timberland pas cher dit pour le plus jeune chef Biao, qui ne tirez pas une bonne chaîne chaussure timberland pas cher d'entrejambe, mettre votre chaussure timberland pas cher enfant d'oeuf exposée.
ReplyDeleteOMG I Just started reading I'll Give You The Sun in math class today (no one ever said I was an attentive student) and am LOVING it even though I'm only 30 pages in! Can't wait to discuss more spoilery thoughts w/ u when I'm done
ReplyDeleteIt's okay, I don't pay attention and I'm not very good at math myself. yes we must discuss. I still have some feels from this book that I can't seem to shake.
Delete